MegaMan Starforce: Maria's Serenade
by Daisy-023
Summary: Ever since her father vanished, ten-year-old Maria Stelar has simply tried to live life the best she can, but when she and her brother meet a duo of alien fugitives her world is turned upside down. With the fate of Earth hanging in the balance she must use all her willpower to fight off an alien invasion of epic proportions. (Collaboration with MistressTwilight8).


**A/N: The basic draft of this chapter was written by MistressTwilight8, I just added a few bits and pieces.**

**Prologue: How It All Started **

Maria Stelar was born a week earlier than expected. Growing up, she was a bit smaller than most of the other kids her age, and had trouble potty training. Entering Kindergarten, she still had enough daytime accidents to warrant her wearing diapers during school days, and spent the first part of the next year in pull-ups; her bedwetting would not stop till she was in third grade. Her difficulty with potty training, in addition to her short stature, unusual hair colour, and freckles lead her to be bullied quite frequently by her peers. As a result, she was shy and somewhat awkward in crowds, this being also partly due to her autism, but in internet chat rooms or alone with a rare friend; she could open up and truly be herself.

Maria was Daddy's little girl. Kelvin supported his daughter through all the rough patches her personal and school life she had. She had a good relationship with her mother and big brother, further enforced by her lack of social life. When Kelvin disappeared with his space station, Maria went into denial. Hope tried her best to cushion the blow, but failed miserably as the news had hit her just as hard. The siblings stopped attending school and did their assigned work at home, Hope eventually signing them up for the TeacherMan Navi system, despite insistence from the Principal that they come to school, however he backed down after realising Hope had made up her mind. They all knew that if Kelvin hadn't organised for a large amount of money to be placed in the family account before he left then they would have had a lot of difficulty making ends meet. But the money wouldn't last, Hope knew, so she gained a job as a doctor thanks to her medical degree and used the money her job brought in to support herself and her children.

A short while later, after NAXA deemed the crew of the space station to be dead, Maria broke down and ran off, leading to her being abducted by Michael Phelps, a NAXA employee who she had formed her first BrotherBand with. When Hope and Geo found out they were shocked and horrified, believing that Phelps had quite possibly killed her.

During that time Geo fell into depression, disheartened by both Kelvin's disappearance and Maria's abduction. He barely ate and was plagued by repeated nightmares of Maria lying dead in front of him, sprawled in a pool of her own blood while hearing Phelps taunting him over his inability to protect her, saying he was weak.

A month later however, the Satella Police tracked Phelps down and raided his hideout, finding Maria in a broken and barely alive state. The severity of her injuries made it doubtful she would survive, but she pulled through despite the odds stacked against her, however there were long term side effects from her ordeal.

She rarely showed any emotion following the incident and often woke up screaming during the night, yet refused to give a reason for this. As time went on she started having accidents again, but barely noticed a thing due to her depressed state. After a while Hope made the difficult decision to put her back into diapers and took the children to a psychologist.

While Geo's depression in the wake of Maria's ordeal was more manageable, drastic measures were needed for Maria, the psychologist determining that her autism had worsened and a new, unspecifiable condition had also developed. Given her need for diapers, the psych recommended regression therapy; have Hope treat her like a baby. Hope was hesitant to do so, but agreed to try for a week, and then to continue after Maria responded well to it. While babying her, Hope and Maria's bond grew. Geo became more protective of his 'baby' sister, as Maria began looking up to him. The pair bonded over the grief they shared over their missing father.

Geo would also commonly visit Aaron at AMAKEN Labs, to check up on him and spend time talking about day-to-day things; this helped him gain some semblance of normality. In the evenings the siblings would walk up to Vista Point, the highest point in Echo Ridge, and spend a couple of hours stargazing and reflecting on the bond they shared with each other.

Our story starts on an ordinary day, just before an extraordinary event that will have a profound impact on the siblings' lives... 


End file.
